Alesso On How To Become A DJ

How To Become A Globe-Trotting Superstar DJ By Alesso

Some people might balk at taking advice from someone born in the '90s, but they’d probably reconsider if the wisdom-imparter happened to be Alesso. With a debut album (Forever) that topped the US dance and electronic music chart, 3.4 million fans on Facebook, and a catalogue of ubiquitous club hits, Alesso is living exactly the kind of jet-setting lifestyle modelled by the new DJ elite. And the list of people that he’s worked with – including Calvin Harris, Sebastian Ingrosso, and Usher – only adds to his prestige.

But of course, the hard work comes well before the packed arena tours, the perfume campaign, and the model girlfriends. For any aspiring DJs out there who still haven’t hit 136 million YouTube views, Alesso’s the guy you want to speak to. Here are his personally tried-and-tested tips on how to become a DJ.

Which software should I use?

“I use Logic which has been around for many years, but I would recommend Cubase because I have friends who work on it and it has the least glitches in comparison – sometimes I wish that I had started on another software. You can do the same things with both, it’s just that some softwares are a little quicker than others and don’t have as many glitches, which can be really annoying.”

What hardware should I get?

“You can pretty much get everything on your computer these days like synthesisers and plug-ins. You don’t even need to buy anything anymore, you can download it from websites. But when it comes to speakers it really depends on what you prefer. I have ADAM A7X speakers which are quite small, but how many times do you listen to music on big speakers? Not that often. You more listen to music in your car or at home. So if I’m producing a track and I want it to sound loud, I want it to sound loud on the small speakers as well. And you need to work on the same speakers for a long time to make sure that you really know them, and know how things are going to sound in general. A couple of weeks ago I was working [on a track] in LA and as soon as I got back to my studio in Stockholm, I thought, 'Oh man, there’s so many things I need to change.'"

Which platforms should I upload my music to?

“When I started out it was mostly YouTube, and then SoundCloud. But it’s important that you’re surrounded by people who know what they’re doing; there are some records out there being offered for free, that have the potential to be big songs.”

Which platforms should I upload my music to?

“When I started out it was mostly YouTube, and then SoundCloud. But it’s important that you’re surrounded by people who know what they’re doing; there are some records out there being offered for free, that have the potential to be big songs.”

How do I get good at playing live?

“I started off producing first, I didn’t know how to DJ when I was making my first dance records. Then I saved some money and bought two CDJs and a mixer, and slowly started to understand how it worked. I got a lot better during the first two years while I was touring because it went really quick for me and I didn’t have that much time to practice – I put out a couple of records, then people wanted to book me in shows. I didn’t have any money and really wanted to make a living, so I just jumped straight into them. But I did know the basic stuff.”

How do I get noticed by people?

“I wouldn’t have a career if it wasn’t for the internet, it’s a free world and you can do whatever you want. You can share [tracks] which is amazing, because before everything was restricted to the radio. For me it started almost as a chain reaction: more and more people found out about my tracks and shared them. It was through social media, through other DJs that were supporting the record, through YouTube clips... I think as long as people are supporting music and it’s a good enough record, eventually people are going to listen to it.”

How do I use social media to promote myself?

"I don’t try to gain more followers, I just do whatever feels right to me. I post what I support, my music and a little of my personal life – I try to show fans a bit of who I am and what I do, but it’s also genuine. There are ways of getting more followers, feedback, reaction and comments, but I think that after a while people are going to see through that. At the end people are going to judge you – or they should – on your music. That’s what matters to me.”

How do I get to work with my music idol?

“I met Sebastian Ingrosso’s [of Swedish House Mafia and Axwell & Ingrosso] father in Sweden and, like anyone else, gave him a CD of my records. And he passed it onto Seb and Seb loved it, and called me the next day saying, ‘Jump in the studio, I want to discuss how we can work with each other.’ I started putting stuff out through his label, remixing other records, and the rest is history.”

What’s the most important piece of advice you can give to aspiring DJs?

“If you want to achieve your goals then you need to believe in yourself and work hard. Try to get yourself into situations where you can achieve your goals, keep chasing your dream and just never stop. What I’ve noticed recently are a lot of people who blame other things for not achieving what they want – and you know what? You can change that, it’s all up to you. It’s a different world today than it used to be. We have the internet, we have so many opportunities, so just get out there and go nuts.”